Justice, Like Lightning
by DragonJ
Summary: In the aftermath of the Destruction of Konoha, a single shinobi seeks vengeance.


Title taken from a poem by Thomas Randolph.

The setting: immediately after the Destruction of Konoha, a few miles outside the village

---

Azumi leaped through the trees, silently following the platoon she had been tracking out of the village. There were four of them in the Sound group – 3 Chunin grunts and 1 Jonin leader. As she jumped from branch to branch, one of the tree limbs she landed out made a cracking sound, and the Sound platoon's collective heads turned toward her position. Silently cursing to herself, Azumi flitted down toward the ground.

---

Toshiro's hands went to his weapons belt as soon as he heard the cracking noise. He knew they were being pursued, but didn't know that their pursuer would actually have the temerity to actually engage the four Sound shinobi. He nodded toward his three Chunin underlings.

"Prepare yourselves."

---

There was a light puff of dust as Azumi hit the ground in front of the squad of Sound ninja. She looked at them, shoulder-length black hair falling back into place, and prepared to fight.

"For crimes against Konoha, your life is forfeit."

---

A flicker of a smile crossed Toshiro's face as the ANBU member delivered her threat. Like all ANBU members, she wore an animal mask. This one's mask was in the shape of a cat. Also like all ANBU members, she wore the distinctive black suit and armor. But the rest of her equipment was different from the standard ANBU attire. On her back, instead of the traditional wakazashi was strapped two large windmill shuriken. She had two weapon pouches on both of her thighs, and two halberd blades were strapped into sheaths on the sides of her calves. Two chains with weights on one end were wrapped around her hands. But the part that most got Toshiro's attention was the numerous bloodstained forehead protectors that were forged onto her armor like trophies. Sand, Mist, Cloud, Rock, Grass, and even Sound symbols decorated the battle-scarred armor. His squad was facing a shinobi that was clearly more skilled than most.

He whispered toward his squad.

"I must fulfill Lord Orochimaru's orders. You take her out."

And with a flash, Toshiro disappeared into the trees.

---

Azumi was slightly annoyed that the Jonin had run. There was no way she could chase him with these Chunin hanging around.

"I guess I'll have to deal with you lot first."

The Chunin had formed a circle around her, each of them holding a kunai. They wore the traditional Sound garb of a black bodysuit and a few personal modifications. Azumi steeled herself for battle.

All at once, the Chunin threw their kunai, then began pulling out various weapons as the battle started. Azumi was ready for their attack. It was a well planned attack, with the three kunai flying toward different points so she would be struck no matter where she dodged. But she didn't need to dodge them…

With two flicks of her wrists, Azumi cast out the chains wrapped around her hands, the weighted ends striking two of the kunai and redirecting them into the third. All three fell to the ground with a useless clatter while Azumi reeled in the two chains and began whirling them around her body, ready for the next attack.

A Chunin with two bandoliers full of shuriken came at her first.

"Take this!" he yelled as he threw six shuriken at once, the bladed ninja weapons spiraling toward her. Azumi spun the chains in a wide arc around her body, sending the shuriken flying off into the distance and prepared her counterattack, the weighted chains shooting toward the Chunin. He rolled to the side to dodge the attack.

Senbon sprayed at Azumi from her left side as one of the other Chunin attacked her. She leaped into the air, a few stray senbon sticking harmlessly into her armor, and kicked at the shuriken wielding shinobi, even though she was several feet away from him. The Chunin looked confused at this action, until he realized that she wasn't looking to physically hit him; rather, the halberd blade that was on her leg had shot out at him. He again rolled to the side to dodge this attack, and barely missed getting hit by the chain in Azumi's right hand. He was safe for now, or so he thought. He heard a metallic clang behind him and realized that the weighted end of the chain had attached to the handle of the blade, the result of Azumi sending her chakra into the chain to attach the attuned weapons. The Sound Chunin barely had time to scream before the spinning blade sliced through his windpipe, cutting off his scream just as soon as it started. He fell to the ground clutching at his neck, blood spraying out of his severed jugular. The unfortunate shinobi writhed on the ground for a few moments, then became still, lying in a pool of his own lifeblood.

The Chunin on Azumi's right side, enraged at his comrade's demise, charged at her with two kunai clutched in his hands. This proved to be his undoing, as Azumi still had yet to unleash the chain in her left hand. She did this now as the end of it shot into the surprised Chunin's gut, doubling him over, then let out another length of it to wrap around his stunned form. Azumi whirled her right chain around, the blade attached to it forcing the senbon-wielding Chunin to jump back into the trees, then flicked her wrist, causing the chain to spiral around the Chunin with the kunai. Held aloft by Azumi's chakra, the twin chains remained in place even after she took her hands off of them. The Konoha Jonin formed a series of seals, then intoned the name of the jutsu at the bound Chunin as she moved her glowing hands back onto the chains, causing them to glow a neon blue.

"Prisoner's End! Execution Technique!"

In one movement, the chains tightened, slicing through the Sound shinobi's body. Severed body parts fell to the dirt, a fountain of blood shooting out from the torso of the dismembered ninja. Azumi's intuition kicked in again and she dived to the side as a barrage of senbon filled the air where she was standing just a millisecond ago. She looked to the trees where the attack had come from and could only hear retreating footsteps as the third Sound Chunin tried to escape certain death.

His escape would be denied.

Azumi reached into the weapon pouches on her thighs, pulling out ten throwing kunai and throwing them into the air. She dropped her chains onto the ground and quickly formed two seals. Lines of chakra shot out from each of her individual fingers to the kunai spiraling in the air, and she directed them to where she last heard the footsteps, the kunai flying out in a circular pattern.

"Ninja Art! Whirlwind of Blades!"

There was a strangled scream off in the distance as the kunai found their target, and a muffled thump as the now deceased Sound shinobi ungracefully fell to the ground.

Azumi collected the headbands from the bodies of the two Sound shinobi lying dead on the path, then began to think about how to find their leader. He was the one who had carved a swath of destruction through the middle of Konaha, then stolen a copy of a scroll full of forbidden jutsu from the Konoha Archives – if the Sound had access to those techniques, their next attack on Konoha would be twice as devastating.

As she planned her strategy, a shadowy form moved on a tree above her. Without thinking, Azumi shot out a chain and wrapped it around the shinobi.

"The Sound Jonin!" she thought to herself as her eyes focused on him. With a flick of her wrist, she tightened the chain, only to have the clone disintegrate into a puff of smoke. A cloud of chakra-composed musical notes rose into the air, then began drifting off toward the source of the clone.

"A Sound clone, huh?" Azumi said to herself as she followed. "Those notes will lead me toward him, but he'll already know my fighting style and techniques…"

---

Toshiro paused for a second as he sped down the path.

"So…" he mused, "she took out my clone. Well, guess I'll have to fight…but at least this is a good time to try out that new technique Lord Orochimaru taught me."

He grinned as a barrage of notes appeared in the distance, and immediately winged their way toward him. As each musical note touched him, he absorbed some of the memories of the clone.

"Whip chains, huh?"

Toshiro steeled himself for battle.

---

Azumi once again dropped to the ground in front of the Sound Jonin. He stood around ten yards away from her. Azumi could tell he was amused, even though all she could see of his face was his eyes. He was wearing the same outfit as all the other Sound Jonin she had seen, but he had numerous scrolls on his belt, as well as a wakazashi in a sheath on his lower back. Some armor was present on his torso, arms, and legs, but it was nothing like Azumi had ever seen. It looked paper thin and was full of small holes, could it even stand up to a direct hit from a physical blow?

She unfurled her chains and began whirling them around her body.

"I am an avatar of the vengeance of Konoha. Prepare to die."

The chains began flying around faster – only a black blur could be seen around Azumi's body. She shifted into a fighting stance.

"Now then, let's begin."

Toshiro dropped down on her from above, sword drawn and pointed toward her head.

"Yes, let's begin." he growled as the Sound clone dissipated.

Azumi gasped and shifted to the side just in time to avoid a fatal injury. The sharp blade sliced through the air and drew a thin red line on her bare right shoulder – painful, but at least it wasn't her head getting severed. The kunoichi immediately attacked back, the chain from her left hand shooting into Toshiro's gut as her other chain came down at his head, both impacting with great force. The Sound Jonin flew backwards as the chains hit him.

Azumi screamed as electrical impulses shot through her metal chains and into her arms, her lithe muscles going into spasms at the alien invasion of her flesh. Her chains fell to the ground as Toshiro recovered from the force of her attack, the air just surrounding his body strangely distorted. He looked at the spots where the chains should have impacted with wonder.

"Lord Orochimaru truly is a genius. The Disruption Aura worked perfectly…"

Toshiro pointed his blade at Azumi.

"Surrender now and I'll spare your life. No attack can penetrate Lord Orochimaru's genius!"

The Konoha kunoichi hadn't given up yet though. Bringing her quivering arms under control, Azumi resumed the motion of her chains around the sides of her body, the blades on her legs attaching to the ends of the chains and joining the whirling motion.

"I can't hit him directly without a lot of pain," she thought to herself, "his chakra is being shaped by that strange armor into a barrier of electricity. But if I try a ranged attack…"

The two halberd blades flashed through the air as Azumi readied her next attack.

"Eat this!"

Azumi shot the two chains at Toshiro, who jumped out of their range. The Disruption Aura seemed strong, but he didn't want to use it too often as the chakra expense would take a toll on him if he didn't finish this fight quickly.

The Konoha ninja smiled as the Sound Jonin leaped out of the range of her chains. She sent an impulse of chakra down the chains just as they reached their maximum range.

"Let's see him block this!" she thought to herself.

Toshiro's eyes widened as the two blades on the end of the chains detached and whirled toward him. He cursed silently in his mind and shoved chakra into the armor that formed the Disruption Aura. The blades impacted into the middle of his chest and bounced off, sparks flying through the air.

Azumi's expression darkened into a frown as the attack failed. She had to think of something quickly before the Sound Jonin could slay her with that sword of his. Normally, her chains trumped any sort of short range weapon but she just couldn't get past that armor of his.

Toshiro charged at her again, sword leveled and ready for a killing strike. Azumi moved quickly, launching both of her chains in a wide arc. Toshiro ducked under them and raised his sword high, prepared to deliver the fatal blow. A sinking sensation in his stomach corresponded with a wrenching sensation in his hands as the chains wrapped around the sword. Azumi flicked her wrist, and the sword shattered completely, shards of metal raining over Toshiro and fizzling off as they bounced off his aura.

Toshiro's face twisted into a grimace.

"Fine, we'll do this the hard way."

His hand went to one of the scrolls on his belt. He pulled out it and unrolled it to reveal a musical score and held it out in front of him, his hands making seals as the scroll levitated in the air, held in place by Toshiro's chakra.

His hands moved across the parchment, passing over the entire score as he completed the jutsu a huge amount of chakra flowing into the scroll.

"Sound Village Secret Art! Symphony of Destruction!"

Azumi gasped as the musical notes began disappearing off the scroll, and reappeared in mid-air glowing an angry red. As the final note formed, Toshiro moved his hands like a conductor, each motion corresponding with a group of glowing red notes shooting at Azumi.

The kunoichi raised her arm guards to block the attack, then howled in pain and terror as the true nature of the attack became known to her. The spectral notes passed right through her armor and into her flesh, each one attacking her nervous system. An unbelievably loud chord sounded off in her head as each note impacted into her flesh.

Her screams became more frenzied as the attack wound its way to its conclusion, the combined assault on her nervous system causing her to go into convulsions. Azumi writhed on the ground as every single nerve in her body flared up in pain and her ears pounded with the screeching music.

Finally, the attack halted. Toshiro walked slowly toward Azumi, who was struggling to regain control of her body and get up. He kicked her in the face, sending her flying backwards.

"It's time to finish this."

He pulled another scroll out of his belt.

Azumi coughed blood out onto the inside of her mask, then looked up, her vision blocked by her mask, which had been knocked aside by the vicious kick. She reached one shaking hand up and removed the mask.

Toshiro paused.

"My, you are a lovely one. But don't think that will stop me from carrying out Lord Orochimaru's orders."

Azumi grimaced in pain as her hands moved toward her back and grabbed the two windmill shuriken.

"But this will!" she yelled as she threw the two shuriken out, pain shooting through her still-tender muscles.

Toshiro blinked as the two shuriken came toward him, then laughed as he realized that they weren't even close to impacting him.

"Your aim seems to-" He paused as two chains shot past him and attached to the windmill shuriken. Realizing what was about to happen, he sighed as he put the Disruption Aura up again.

The force of the chains impacting the windmill shuriken changed their direction, causing them to spiral inward and surround Toshiro with chains. The two shuriken smashed into him and bounced off uselessly, the Disruption Aura halting the attack.

"Don't you ever learn? You have no chance. Look at you, pathetically trying to keep your precious scroll. You'll be dead from the Aura in a matter of minutes. Are you sure you don't want to surrender?" Toshiro mocked as Azumi's face twisted into a mask of pain, electricity shooting from the aura into her arms.

Azumi couldn't respond, her features held in place by the voltage shooting through her body, but she slowly moved her hands inward and shakily formed a series of seals, the chains held in place by her chakra. Electricity continued to flow through the chakra into her body as she finished the seals for the jutsu, every muscle in her arms screaming in pain.

The kunoichi felt a strange serenity as chakra flooded through her. Tears and sweat streaming down her face, Azumi managed to choke out a statement through gritted teeth.

"I've…never…been…so…sure…in…my LIFE!"

With the last word, Azumi's hands shot back to her chains, which were glowing red with the energy from the Disruption Aura. Ignoring the scorching pain in her hands, she completed the jutsu.

"Ninja Art! Chain Lightning!"

Chakra-charged electricity shot down the chains and into the aura surrounding Toshiro as he stared at Azumi in shock. As the heat began to build around him, stray sparks spraying everywhere, he screamed in terror. All his former arrogance was lost as his armor glowed white with energy, igniting his skin. Azumi blocked out her pain as best as she could and continued feeding chakra into the vortex of lightning surrounding Toshiro, blood streaming out of her nose from the effort. The smell of burnt flesh filled the air as both shinobi experienced excruciating pain.

With a blinding flash, the Disruption Aura finally overloaded and exploded, shooting electricity in a sphere around the spot where Toshiro stood and scorching the air. The brilliant light blinded Azumi as she finally halted her attack, exhausted from the massive amount of exertion.

Without seeing, she reached into her weapons pouch and pulled out her ANBU distress scroll, and with the last of her chakra, activated it, shooting a beacon of light into the air. As the spots cleared from her vision, she looked over at the crater full of ashes that used to be Toshiro.

"Justice…has been delivered…" she managed to murmur before pitching backwards onto the ground, unconscious.


End file.
